Project Lifecycle

You manage a project from its creation, through to deployment to a development server, and testing. You then lock it ready for production, and make it available on a production server for the applications that are ready for use by your 'end users'.

The project lifecycle consists of the following:

Generating test deployment artifacts

  • Create or import a project into TIBCO Business Studio - BPM Edition.
  • Generate the artifacts for deployment to a development server (right-click the project, then select Deployment > Generate Test Artifacts to export projects as .rasc files ready for deployment).

Deploying the generated artifacts

  • For process projects that use email or REST service tasks, you will need to create the shared resources named in each of the email and REST participants before you deploy. This is done in the Shared Resources Manager in Administrator. See "Shared Resources" in the TIBCO BPM Enterprise Administration.
  • Use the Launch Admin button provided in the deployment artifact generation wizard or log into the Work Manager, and navigate to the Administrator, Deployment Manager area.
  • You can deploy the generated deployment artifacts (.rasc files) to a development server. Select New Deployment and select the .rasc file you generated, and deploy it.
    Note: The projects need to be deployed in order of dependency. For example, you must deploy a business data project before the process projects that reference it and you must deploy projects with sub-processes before projects with the main process that invoke these and so on. If you do not deploy in the correct order, deployment will fail and you will need to deploy referenced projects in the correct order.
  • Test on the development server.
  • Go back to TIBCO Business Studio and make any changes required to the project.
  • Repeat the deployment and test again.

Deploying production artifacts

  • When your development and test cycle is complete, lock it for production in TIBCO Business Studio - BPM Edition (right-click the project, then select > Deployment > Lock for Production). This will make it possible to create the production deployment artifacts that are required for deployment to a production server.
  • For process projects that use email or REST service tasks, you will need to create the shared resources named in each of the email and REST participants before you deploy. This is done in the Shared Resources Manager in Administrator. See "Shared Resources" in the TIBCO BPM Enterprise Administration.
  • Generate the deployment artifacts for a production server (right-click the project, then select Deployment > Generate Production Artifacts).
    Note: Draft deployment artifacts cannot be deployed to a production server.
  • Use the Launch Admin button provided in the deployment artifact generation wizard or log into the Work Manager, and navigate to the Administrator, Deployment Manager area.
  • You can deploy the generated deployment artifacts (.rasc files) to a development server. Select New Deployment and can either select, or drag and drop, the .rasc file you generated, and deploy it.
    Note: The projects need to be deployed in order of dependency. For example, you must deploy a business data project before the process projects that reference it, and you must deploy projects with sub-processes before projects with the main process that invoke these and so on. If you do not deploy in the correct order, a message is displayed about missing dependencies.

Creating a new draft

  • Once a project has been locked for production, you cannot work on it until you unlock it by creating a new draft version (right-click the project, then select Deployment > Create New Draft). At this stage, the project's minor version is incremented. See Project Versioning.
    Note: Any other dependent project that references the project will require that it is deployed before the other dependent project is (because it could contain new content that the dependent project relies on for correct function). This is verified against the deployed project's major and minor version number during deployment.